


A London Calling Christmas

by WordsandChocolate



Series: London Calling [4]
Category: Blood Ties (TV), British Actor RPF, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ravenswood (TV)
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Frottage, Group dynamics, Intervention, Kissing, M/M, Magic, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-03 11:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2849645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsandChocolate/pseuds/WordsandChocolate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of ficlets with our London Calling characters at Christmas.<br/>Each chapter deals with a different dynamic between characters.<br/>(this won't make sense unless you read London Calling first)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Very Cenry Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I had a Christmas plot-bunny bouncing around in my head, and thought I'd write some Christmas drabble about my London Calling characters.

“What’s this?” Caleb said, his dark expressive eyebrows drawn down towards his nose.

“A present” Henry replied, his blue eyes glinting with amusement.

They were in Caleb’s room, the others still chatting upstairs. Caleb slipped down to the bathroom, and Henry took the moment to catch him alone. Caleb sank onto his bed, looking at the small brown paper package in his hands in confusion.

“But you already gave me the hoodie.”

Caleb was wearing it, and Henry noted approvingly that he had been right- that shade of red did compliment his brown eyes and warm skin tone.

“I know, but I wanted to gift you something with a more personal touch.”

“I already have more presents than I’ve had in my life” Caleb murmured as he unwrapped the parcel, his voice shaking a little and his eyes shining with unshed tears.

Henry pretended not to notice- he knew Caleb didn’t like showing any weakness. What he wanted to do though, was take Caleb’s face in his hands, blot the tears away with a sweep of his thumbs, and kiss Caleb’s lips so fiercely that he was forever anchored in the present, far away from the past that troubled him so. Instead, Henry sat next to Caleb on the bed, and let his thigh rest against the boy’s.

It had been months since Caleb and Henry had first kissed, and so far Caleb had seemed to want to keep their burgeoning relationship private. Henry thought Caleb was fooling himself if he thought the rest of the team didn’t know.

Caleb was much more comfortable physically with the vampire, but Henry didn’t want to push things. One thing he’d learned from living so long, was patience. The wrapping finally tore off, and Caleb looked down at one of Henry’s sketchbooks.

Opening it, he flipped slowly through the pages, the beginnings of a shy smile blossoming across his face. Every page held a sketch of Caleb. Some were in pencil, carefully shaded. Others were with felt tips, others were inked in bright colours. There was Caleb, a cocky grin on his face as he used his staff to knock Tom to the floor during training. Here was Caleb looking pensive, head bent over his guitar as he made a notation on some paper. An inked double-page showed Caleb in battle, using his powers to trap demons in cocoons of vines, his chocolate-brown hair flying back from his face, his brown eyes alight with determination. Others showed Caleb in various scenes with all the different members of the team. A waterfight in the kitchen with Amy, dancing with Sophie, sparring with Buffy. Caleb lingered on the last page, showing the whole team gathered with him in front of the Christmas tree they had erected in the library.

“Do you know what used to happen at Christmas?” Caleb murmured, raising his head to look at Henry. “They’d tell me to get out and leave them alone so they could celebrate Christmas with their real family.”

Henry flushed with anger at the look of pain in Caleb’s dark eyes.

“What are their names?” he said, trying to sound casual.

Caleb looked startled, then shook his head, smiling reluctantly.

“No! No Henry. No revenge needed. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad for me. I’m trying to tell you that this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

He looked down at the book again.

“This is, this is just beautiful. I don’t know what to say.”

“Well you wrote a song for me, it’s only fair I return the gesture” Henry said, smiling.

Caleb blushed. “Ah...so you figured that out, then?”

Henry chuckled. “It doesn’t take too long to connect the dots when an attractive man such as yourself kisses me.”

Caleb placed the book down on the bed, grinning.

“That sounds like an invitation.”

“And so clever too” Henry drawled.

Caleb laughed, leaning across to him and grabbing Henry’s curls.

“Shut up” he said fondly.

His kiss was at odds with his tone- hard and hungry and wanting. Caleb’s lips crushed against Henry’s, his tongue stroked inside his mouth like he wanted to devour Henry, which almost made the older man smile against those pretty lips. As a vampire, he should be doing the devouring, no? But he was content to let Caleb lead, as he pulled gently on the boy’s hair and ran his hands down the back of the red hoodie and came to rest on Caleb’s ass. He felt Caleb gasp a little, and squeezed his bottom in response. Caleb lurched against Henry, turning to face him properly, climbing into his lap and spreading his knees either side of Henry’s hips. The position pressed them tightly against each other, and they could both feel each other’s hardness through their clothes. Henry gave an experimental roll of his hips and was pleased when Caleb moaned into his mouth and pressed back. They rutted together for a while, and Caleb started to lose track of what he was doing, breaking from the kiss to pant helplessly against Henry’s shoulder.

“Is this okay?” Henry murmured in his ear, and Caleb shuddered.

“Yes. Can you...can you...bite me?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes...Henry please...”

“In a moment” Henry softly, increasing the pace he was moving against Caleb. If he timed it well, it would feel fantastic.

Henry kept his mouth near to Caleb’s ear, and started to murmur seductively.

“Do you know how beautiful you look right now Caleb? And your body is just made to be molded against mine. We fit so well together my sweet boy, your thighs astride mine, your cock rubbing against me, your dark eyes clouded over with lust and your body shaking...”

Caleb moaned and gasped and his breathing changed, and Henry knew he was ready. Quickly he pulled the neck of the hoodie aside and plunged his fangs into Caleb’s willing flesh, sucking hard. The boy let out a choked whimper before he came, spilling into his jeans. A couple more hard ruts and the sharp flush of pleasure from Caleb’s blood and Henry came too, releasing Caleb’s neck before he took too much.

Henry let himself fall back against the bed, taking Caleb with him. The boy was boneless, sprawled across his chest, his dark hair spilling prettily across Henry’s neck. After a moment, he managed to raise his head to peer at Henry.

“Oh my god Henry. That was...oh my god.”

Henry chuckled, pleased. “Thank you.”

“You, with your words, and your voice- you should be illegal.”

He managed to roll off Henry and lay beside him, looking both embarrassed and rueful.

“And now I need some new pants.”

“Hmm...so do I. Maybe I should start leaving changes of clothes here” Henry mused.

Caleb smiled. “I think you should. You can borrow a pair of mine now if you like.”

Henry turned to face Caleb. “You realise that the team will draw conclusions from that.”

Caleb’s smile didn’t waver. “Let them.”

Henry didn’t know why that one small comment should make him feel so happy- but it did. He dropped his eyes from Caleb’s, feeling strangely vulnerable.

“I’m sorry” Caleb said softly, reaching out to touch Henry’s cheek. “I should have done that from the beginning. I guess I was just really thrown by being attracted to you. To a guy. That’s a new thing for me. I thought I was straight.”

Henry looked back up at Caleb. “You know you can be attracted to both, yes? There’s even a word for it now- bisexual.”

“Yeah I know. I guess it just took a bit to get my head around it.”

Caleb rolled off the bed and walked to his chest of drawers, looking for some pants, and Henry realised that this was the best Christmas he’d ever had too.   


	2. Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie has some things to say to Amy that are long overdue.

Amy washed up her cereal bowl in the kitchen, her hands shaking only a little. The nightmares last night had been bad, but no worse than usual. And her panic attacks were only a few times a week instead of every day. Opening presents with everyone after breakfast had been fun- it was definitely the nicest Christmas she’d spent in England since she moved here. She suddenly realised she was still washing the now clean cereal bowl. Okay so her concentration needed some work.

“Hey,” came a voice behind her.

Amy jumped, put the cereal bowl on the drainer a little too hard, and turned around.

“Hey Sophie.”

Sophie was staring at Amy, a determined look in her hazel eyes. Amy shifted nervously.

“Come on,” Sophie grabbed Amy’s hand and led her into their bedroom. “We need to talk.”

Amy sat on her bed as Sophie shut the door, trying to think if she had said anything insensitive lately. Nothing came to mind. Sophie came to stand in front of her, hands twisting nervously.

“Amy, we need to talk about how you’re… not coping with things.”

Amy groaned inwardly. Seriously?

“I don’t know what you mean, I’m fine. I’m back at work, we totally wiped those demons out last week with no issues-“

“-You’re not sleeping. You have regular panic attacks and you’re on edge all of the time. It’s affecting your work and our team. You need to talk to someone about this.”

Sophie’s words felt like stinging arrows. Amy sprang to her feet, furious.

“I’m dealing with it okay! I don’t need to talk to someone- I’m not weak! I can beat this and you’re not giving me a chance to-“

“-Am I weak?” Sophie said quietly.

Amy stopped her tirade, looking confused.

“What? No you’re currently being a pain in the arse, but you’re not weak.”

“I’ve been talking to someone. They’ve really helped me. Do you think I’m weak for seeking help?”

Amy sighed and sat back on the bed. “No, but I’m not, I don’t…what do you want from me?”

Sophie ran her hands through her curls, looking tired. Confrontation took so much out of her.

“I just want you to try it. I talked to Henry and Cassie’s witches, and I found someone who we can really talk to about everything. She knows about magic and demons and vampires. I trust her.”

Amy hugged herself, her stomach churning.

“What if she can’t fix me? What if I’m an unfixable mess? I don’t want to let down the team. What if I try and nothing gets better?”

Sophie took Amy’s hand.

“Then you’d be no worse off than you are right now.”    

Amy choked out a laugh. “True.”

“I made an appointment for you in two days. Promise you’ll go? One of us can come with you if you want.”

Amy shook her head. “I can handle it.” She flung herself back on the bed. “I bet Buffy never had her friends do this.”

Sophie looked amused. “They really should, from what I’ve heard of her experiences.”

She stood up. “Want to go watch Henry flirt with Caleb? They’re pretty entertaining today.”

Amy laughed. “Like they don’t know that they’re glowing all over the place. Sure let’s go.”


	3. Cold Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Tom have a chat and check in with each other.

The snow crunched underfoot as Ben and Tom slowed to a slow jog, coming to a stop at the abandoned park near HQ.

“I can’t believe you talked me into a run on Christmas Day, in the snow!” Ben gasped.

Tom grinned. “Just because we’re not currently in a play, is no excuse to get lazy.”

He raised his hand, and snow rose from the ground, freezing together to make two seats. Tom sat down on one, zipping up his jacket. Ben laughed and followed suit.

“You’re such a show-off,” Ben teased.

“Well, winter is my element now,” Tom chuckled. “Seriously though, I can feel the snow all the time, I’m always wanting to do something with it.”

“I feel the same on windy days,” Ben admitted.

Tom glanced over at him.

“How are you doing? With everything?”

Ben stared into space for a moment.

“I think I’m doing a lot better, thanks. I haven’t had a panic attack for ages and I only dream about it occasionally. How about you?”

Tom sighed heavily.

“I think the main issue for me is when I…hurt that man. Killed him. Ben, I killed a person. A human being. The demons, I understand- they’re evil and want to kill us. But a person…”

“Stephen was evil and wanted to kill us too,” Ben pointed out. “He was going to kill Amy, and then you. You were acting in self-defence.”

“But it can’t be that black and white!” Tom said, gesticulating wildly. “No one seems to have a problem with this but me. What sort of man am I becoming that I can take a human life? Will it get easier? Will my moral standards continue to slip?”

“Are you upset about it because you killed a human, or are you upset because you don’t feel all that bad about it?”

Tom’s eyes widened, and he bit his lip.

“Erm…I’m not sure.”

He stared down at his shoes.

“I think it’s a little of Column A, mostly Column B.”

Ben leaned over and patted Tom on the arm.

“Look, I’ve known you a while now, yeah? The fact that you’re obsessing over this, shows me that your moral standards are not slipping. This is not easy for you. I don’t think you’re in any danger of turning into some sort of casual murderer. You need to give yourself permission to be alright with this. You were protecting Amy, and you. He was a horrible man who tortured Amy and it is normal to feel relieved that he won’t be hurting her, you or anyone else any more. That said, I’m sure that killing a person is not an easy thing to have on your conscience, no matter how evil they are. I get that, but man you need to give yourself a break.”

Tom stretched his long legs out and kicked the snow.

“I know, you’re right. It’s hard to do though.”

“Have you talked to Amy about any of it?”

“God no! She’s already going through so much, I don’t want to add to her burden.”

“Amy is tougher than you think Tom, I do think she would be able to hear that. But I understand.”

“I’m sure she’s glad Stephen is dead, I don’t want her to think I regret something that saved her.” His lips firmed. “In fact, I don’t regret it.”

Ben gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

“You’ll be alright. Shall we go see if there’s any hot drinks in our future?”

Tom hopped off his ice chair. “Sounds like a plan.”


	4. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy and Cassie hang out and chat about the future.

Cassie held her feet still and tried not to wiggle her toes as Buffy carefully applied the nail polish.

“This is going to look great,” Buffy said, finishing the top coat. “All done, just wait for a bit while it dries.”

Cassie stared down at her brown toes now sporting iridescent green polish. They did look good.

“Thank you Buffy,” Cassie replied.

Buffy grinned. “No problem! It’s been a while since I’ve done something like this,” she waggled her own toes, coated in dark red. “I should do it more often.”

She plonked down on the couch next to Cassie, who decided this was as good a time as any to bring something up.

“Buffy…I know you’ll need to be leaving soon,” she said, wishing that wasn’t the case.

Buffy’s expertise and natural leadership skills had made everything a lot easier, Cassie had gotten used to depending on her. They all had.

Buffy sighed.

“Yeah. I’ve stayed a lot longer than I planned. I was going to break it to everyone tomorrow. I’ve been thinking about who should take my place.”

“Take your place?” Cassie echoed, surprised.

“Cassie there needs to be a leader on the field. Your visions are important and for sure they’ll direct some of your teams’ actions, but you can’t be on the battlefield like the others.”

Cassie nodded. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way. Who did you have in mind?”

“Amy.”

Cassie blinked. “Amy? She’s not doing so well at the moment, is she?”

Buffy looked determined. “It has to be Amy. She has the skills and the drive. She naturally moves to a leadership role in the group- I’ve been watching her. You know the first thing she did after all that happened to her? She met me in the gym to learn all that I could teach her. I’ve been teaching her strategy and leadership as well as hand-to-hand ever since, though I don’t think she realises why. Amy is going to work through whatever issues she has, I’m sure of it- and she is going to be way more motivated to do so once she knows what is at stake. Ha, pun not intended.”

Cassie nodded thoughtfully.

“How do you think the others will feel about this?”

Buffy shrugged. “You can’t really predict that, but I imagine Sophie will support her, as she always does. The boys- they had the chance to be sexist idiots when I was leading them but it didn’t happen, so maybe they’ll be fine. Amy will sort it out if it isn’t. There’s some strong personalities in our group, but Amy is one too, and they’ve been pretty good at working together so far.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Cassie said wistfully.

Buffy flashed her a smile. “Always nice to be appreciated. Let me offer you some advice. Spend some time hanging out with that group of witches. I think there’s some potential friends there. Shay seemed pretty cool.”

Cassie smiled back. “I’ll think about it.”


End file.
